


The Wizarding World Job

by snarkangel (eskimita)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Leverage
Genre: Bad Dumbledore, Eliot Spencer is everyone's mom, F/M, Gen, Gratuitous use of science, Made Up Science, Mentions of child abuse/neglect, bad Dark Side, previous child abuse/neglect
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-06 02:23:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15184667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eskimita/pseuds/snarkangel
Summary: While on a job in London, Eliot stumbles upon Harry Potter. In that moment, his life, and the life of his team, changes forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was started for the Rough Trade April challenge, but I never finished. I made it about five chapters in. I am slowly editing those chapters and adding new ones.  
> There is fake science in this. It is so fake it makes my brain bleed. Please do not look too deeply into it. Your brain will also bleed.

 

Eliot was leaning against the wall in Kings Cross Station, waiting for Parker and Hardison to get back from casing the British Library when it happened. He was watching the crowds of people, parents picking up their kids from the station after a year away at boarding schools, when he noticed a little girl struggling out of her father’s arms, trying to move towards another family further in the shadows. Curious, Eliot turned to where the girl was pointing, squinting to see the shadowed figures better.

There was a large man holding a boy, shorter than the girl, by the arm, shaking him violently. The boy was clutching onto a cage of some sort, with- was that an owl? - a pet inside it. Eliot watched as the man grabbed the cage out of the boy’s hand and threw it to the ground, the bird inside screeching in outrage. As far as Eliot could tell from this distance, the boy was screeching in outrage as well. When the man raised his hand to slap the boy across the face, Eliot moved, pushing off of the wall and through the crowds of people, headed straight for this man who dared hit a child.

“Dad he’s hurting Harry,” Eliot heard the girl shout as she tried to pull away from her father who was doing his best to keep her away from the escalating violence. “We have to do something!”

Eliot met the father’s eyes as he moved past them, nodding his head towards the violent scene in silent communication. This guy needed to keep his daughter safe, but Eliot wasn’t going to let the obvious child abuse stand, not when he could do something about it. The father nodded, his arms tightening around his daughter’s shoulders as he watched Eliot continue through the terminal. He kept moving towards his target, pushing people out of his way and keeping his eyes locked onto the man who was now picking the boy up from the floor.

When he reached them, the man had one fist pulled back by his ear, the other tangled in the oversized shirt that the boy was wearing. The boy was squirming, trying to pull away, crying out for ‘Uncle Vernon’ to stop. At his side, the bird -it was an owl- continued to screech, wings beating against the sides of the cage that it was stuck in. Eliot had no doubt that this bird would be attacking the man if she could get free. The man –Vernon, presumably- moved his fist forward and Eliot rushed the final few steps and grabbed it, twisting it behind Vernon’s back as he moved closer, leaning in to whisper in the guy’s ear, “I don’t like child abusers. Now, let go of the boy’s shirt, before I cause a scene.”

“How dare you,” Vernon sputtered as Eliot twisted his arm further up, so that the man could feel the strain on the muscles in his shoulder, forcing the man to stand on his toes in order to relieve some of the pressure. “Now see here! He’s my nephew and I’ve a right to treat him any way I like! There’s nothing you or any other freak can do about it. Unhand me before I scream, and have you arrested. I won’t be accosted by you freaks! I took the boy in and I have every right to treat him how I will. Release me this instant!”

By now, they had drawn a crowd, the little girl and her father right at the front. Eliot looked around at the faces of the crowd, gauging their reactions, measuring who they would side with in this little drama that was unfolding. Most were glaring at Vernon like he was scum, something Eliot agreed with wholeheartedly. Some looked uncomfortable; Eliot got that, as much as he hated it. No one liked to be faced with the harsh realities of child abuse, especially not in such a public place. They would just have to deal with it. Eliot wasn’t going to let the boy suffer anymore, not when he could put a stop to it. If that meant that these people couldn’t ignore the fact that they would have just walked past and let Vernon keep hurting the boy, then so be it.

“Let go of the boy, man. Everyone here saw you hit him. He’s what 9? 10? There’s no way a man your size could claim that you hit him in self-defense, not with how small he is, even if he wasn’t a child. No way in the world a kid his size is putting up a fight that poses a threat to you. This is a public train station. You think there aren’t cameras? I bet at least three of them have footage of you hitting the kid. I’m sure Scotland Yard will have no problem getting that footage. What do you think happens then? You just get away with hitting a helpless kid? No. I’ll make sure of it. Now let the boy go. If you don’t want me to make a bigger scene than we already are, you’ll put him down right now. Look at all these people. They all saw you hit him. They all see you threatening him. Do you really think you’ll get away with that?”

Vernon released the oversized shirt that the kid was wearing, and the boy scrambled backwards, straight into the little girl’s arms. They had to be school friends or something. Happy that the kid was safely away from the man who had the audacity to hit him in public, Eliot released Vernon’s arm, allowing the man to turn around and size him up. He crossed his arms as the larger man’s face turned red and Vernon started to bluster like he couldn’t believe someone Eliot’s size had managed to take him down. He loved it when people underestimated him because he wasn’t what most people would consider tall. As if all strength came from height.

“I’ll have you arrested for assault, see if I don’t,” Vernon sputtered out, spittle spewing from his lips and onto Eliot’s face. Eliot calmly lifted one hand and brushed it off, an unimpressed look on his face. “How dare you put a hand on me?! Do you know who I am? You have no right to touch me. He’s my nephew and I’ll punish him as I please. The freak deserves it, little thief that he is, taking food out of my Dudley’s mouth for the past ten years. I won’t have it anymore! The ungrateful little brat takes up all my Petunia’s time and poor Dudley is left to suffer because of him.”

Eliot had no idea what the man was going on about, but judging by the faces around them, everyone in the crowd agreed with his assessment that the man was out of his mind. The little girl and her father were whispering furiously about something, while the boy stood awkwardly next to them, not looking up from the worn shoes on his feet. Now that the violence was over, most of the crowd was leaving, probably disappointed that the situation hadn’t actually ended up in a fight. Eliot would have rolled his eyes, but he spotted Parker and Hardison coming towards him, confusion on their faces. Without giving himself away too much, Eliot nodded towards Vernon and the kid, watching as both of their eyes widened in understanding. He had never been more grateful for his team than when they understood what he was saying when he didn’t say anything. They were always ready for whatever situation he threw at them, no matter how crazy.

Parker and Hardison joined the group of people still surrounding this drama, slipping to either side of the kid and his friend, who was still whispering furiously to her father. Eliot had no idea what they were talking about, but he could make his guesses. The way the girl had her hand locked protectively on the boy’s arm said more than being able to hear her words would. Vernon was still staring at Eliot, he hadn’t noticed the new additions to their audience.

“You want to protect the boy so much, you take him,” the hateful man spat out, thrusting his arm out in the boy’s direction. “I never asked for him. Never wanted the freak in the first place, but we took him in, didn’t leave him to die on the doorstep, now did we? No, we took him in, we fed him and clothed him, and he’s been nothing but ungrateful since then. I won’t have anything to do with him again, you hear me? I won’t do it. You take the freak.”

With his declaration, the portly man pushed through the crowds, leaving behind a wide-eyed little boy staring at him in disbelief. Was he really abandoning his nephew in the middle of the train station? With the speed that Vernon was moving, it appeared so. He had just abandoned a kid in the middle of London. If Eliot hadn’t already seen the way the guy was treating the kid, he wouldn’t be able to believe that someone would be that callous, but he had seen it, he had seen the man’s disgust. As much as he couldn’t believe it, the man had decided to abandon the kid. Eliot wobbled between disbelief and disgust before settling on some sort of relieved mixture of the two. At least if the man left the kid here, it meant he wasn’t beating him anymore. Someone else could help him now, right?

“Harry?” The little girl was pulling on her friend’s sleeve to get his attention, “Can you write to Dumbledore? He has to fix this. Maybe he can take you to Ron’s for the summer. Maybe he’ll let you go back to the school. He can’t send you back to that house after that horrible man left you here. I won’t let him. There has to be a law somewhere that says he can’t make you go back to live with them. If the-” She glanced around at the crowds. “I read somewhere that there are child protection laws. They have to apply to _this_ too.”

“Hermione,” her father knelt down at the same level as the kids, ignoring anyone else in the immediate area in favor of talking to his daughter. “If your Headmaster is the one who told him that he has to go back to that house, why would he let Harry go somewhere else? Men like that don’t just change their minds, love. I’m afraid that your friend won’t see much help from your Headmaster.”

The girl, Hermione, looked distraught thinking about that, but she nodded, probably realizing that her father was right. “What can we do then, dad? We can’t just leave him here. That man was so horrible to him, and he left Harry here all alone. Where’s he supposed to go now? We can’t take him with us to France for holiday, mum won’t like having to plan everything all over again.”

Next to her, Harry looked like he had finally realized that he had been abandoned, that he was alone with nowhere to go. Eliot couldn’t let that resigned look remain on the kid’s face. There was no way that he would let the kid stand there looking that miserable and unhappy, not when he could do something about it. Glancing up at Hardison, he twitched the fingers of his right hand against his left arm, the agreed upon sign that he needed a quick identity. He knew he could count on Hardison to make sure that whatever he came up with was foolproof before he finished talking.

“Actually, sir, I can do something about that,” Eliot moved closer to the trio, holding out his hand for the man to shake as he stood back up, “Eliot Spencer. I work for Children’s Services. I’d show you my card, but it’s my day off. I wasn’t expecting to see something like this today.” He gave the man a small smile of commiseration as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I can take Harry into the office, see about getting him placed somewhere for the summer, start an investigation into his uncle. I’ll make sure that he finds somewhere good, somewhere he’ll be taken care of.”

The man looked like he wanted to agree, wanted to leave the boy in Eliot’s care, but his daughter tugged on his sleeve, raising an eyebrow at him in stubbornly silent communication. Eliot had no idea what was stopping them from agreeing to what would be an ideal situation to most people, but he waited patiently, subtly nodding when Hardison put his phone back in his pocket. Eliot’s identity was secured then. Finally, the man turned back to Eliot, glancing around the station.

“I agree, there needs to be an investigation opened against Harry’s uncle, and Harry needs a new place to stay for the summer, but if he’s going to be staying with someone, there are some things that they need to know, things I can’t tell anyone but whoever he stays with. It’s a… law of sorts. Do you have any idea who might be the people taking him in? Do you have families chosen already for emergency situations like this? Maybe I can talk to them?”

Who the hell was this kid? Why would there be a law around telling someone about the kid’s past? Eliot could see the interest on Parker’s face, knew that she’d just found something far more interesting to her than the Magna Carta that they were in London to steal. Whatever was going on around this kid, he had just become the main focus of the team. There was no way Parker would let anyone but them take this kid in. She couldn’t resist a good secret, after all. Eliot wanted to roll his eyes. Looks like they were getting a kid then.

“We don’t usually have families that we’ve previously chosen for emergency situations like this, no, but given that it’s Saturday, my partner and I would probably be the ones to take him in, at least until Monday. However, I can have it arranged that we keep custody of Harry, if that makes you more comfortable. We’ve taken in foster kids before, and we have no problem taking in another one.” On cue, Parker slipped to Eliot’s side, a bubbly smile on her face as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. “This is Parker, my partner. We’ve been together for five years now.”

“Hi,” Parker waved at Hermione and Harry before holding her hand out for Hermione’s father. “So, what’s up? You find another kid to save from the big bad wolf, El? Eliot can’t stand child abusers. He’s got the best record of getting kids out of bad situations in the entire London office. Whatever happened, Eliot will make sure that your friend is safe.”

Hermione frowned at Parker and Eliot cursed silently. Of course, the kid was going to be suspicious. Neither one of them sounded British. Why would an American be working in Children’s Services in London? He knew the kid was going to ask about it, was going to be curious, because kids always were curious about things that they didn’t understand, but he had no idea what he was going to tell her.

“What’s an American doing working for Children’s Services over here? Don’t you have Children’s Services in America?”

There it was, right as Eliot had predicted. He swallowed carefully before nodding and answering her. “Of course, we do. I went to University over here, see, and I loved living in London so much, I decided to try and get citizenship. I’ve lived here for ten years now, but the accent, it doesn’t go away, not when you grow up in Tennessee like I did,” he gave her a shy smile, running his hand through his hair and shrugging. “I’ve tried to lose the twang, I have, but it just didn’t happen. Parker moved over here five years ago, after I started working with Children’s Services. We’ve made our home over here.”

As the girl nodded and accepted his answer, Eliot was grateful that the dad hadn’t asked. Adults were so much harder to convince of things that sounded even the slightest bit outlandish, but if his daughter believed him then chances were her father would accept it too, if only to keep the peace with his kid. He could see the dad nodding his understanding and breathed easier, knowing that he had somehow managed to get away with it. Now he just had to see if the man would take his explanation at face value. Whatever the guy did, Eliot knew that somehow, they were going to end up dragging this kid back to their hotel at the end of the day.

“An ex-pat, then,” the man nodded, reaching out his hand to shake Parker’s, “Very well. I’m George Granger and this is my daughter Hermione and her friend Harry Potter. If you would like to join us for a private cup of tea, I’ll see what I can do about explaining Harry’s unique situation to you. That is, of course, if you’re both comfortable with agreeing to take custody of him. I wouldn’t stress it so much if it wasn’t important, but there are things that I’m afraid I can’t tell you if you plan on seeing him off to another foster family.”

“Oh, we wouldn’t do that,” Parker rushed to assure the man, grinning at Harry. “Eliot and I have been looking into longer term fostering for a year now, and we wouldn’t make Harry leave us unless he wanted to, of course. We wouldn’t send him away just because he’s unique.”

The kid looked up from his shoes for the first time since his uncle had abandoned him, staring up at Parker with the widest green eyes that Eliot had ever seen, reading her face. Whatever he saw there must have been enough for him, because he nodded shyly, gathering up the trunk and owl cage that had been sitting beside him. “I believe them, Mr. Granger. Can we go get something to eat? The Leaving Feast was hours ago, and I gave all my snacks from the trolley to Ron.”

George nodded at Harry and picked up Hermione’s trunk, gesturing towards a tea room further down the way. “We can go have some tea and get a bite to eat then, and I’ll tell you what I can. Hermione and Harry will have to help. They know more about this whole thing than I do, I’m afraid.”

Parker slid to Harry’s side, picking up the owl cage as the boy struggled with his trunk. Eliot moved to the other side, grabbing the trunk handle and glancing at Hardison, who met his eyes silently, already moving through the crowds towards the tea room. “Here, kid, we’ll help you carry that stuff. It looks heavy.”

“What’s your owl’s name? She’s beautiful,” Parker crooned, holding her fingers to the bars of the cage and allowing the owl to nip at them. “She’s a Snowy Owl, isn’t she? They’ve always been my favorite bird.”

Harry grinned at Parker, not even realizing that they were moving. “Her name’s Hedwig. She was my first birthday present. My friend Hagrid bought her for me. She’s the most brilliant owl in the world. I swear she actually understands me when I talk to her.”

Eliot allowed the conversation to slip around him as they headed to the tea room, wondering what exactly they had stumbled into here. This trip to London was supposed to be simple, but it had just gotten infinitely more complex. What was he supposed to do with a kid and a new mystery? Whatever it was, he knew that the team would figure it out, somehow. They always did.

-

Once Eliot and Parker had settled into the tea room with the Grangers and Harry, George took a deep breath, looking like he had no idea what he was going to say or where he was going to start. Whatever it was the man had to tell them must have been serious if he was stuck floundering, looking for a way to start. Finally, he took a deep breath, lifting the cup of tea that had been brought to him and sipping out of it before starting.

“My wife and I just learned about this last year, you have to understand, about a month or so before Hermione went off to school. I don’t know much about it, because I’m not one of the people who needs to know, but Hermione, she’s told me what she can. Brilliant little girl that she is, she knows better than to keep secrets from her parents,” he smiled down at the girl, who was blushing beneath her bushy hair, nudging her father’s arm in embarrassment, “but there are things that Hermione hasn’t told us, I’m sure.”

“Dad, you’re rambling. Maybe it’ll be easier if I just tell them myself.” Hermione leaned forward, like she was going to tell Eliot a secret of some sort. Whatever it was she was about to tell him, she took it very seriously. Drawing a book out of the bag at her side, she placed it on the table and opened it up, pushing it to Eliot and Parker. “Magic is real. Look at the book.”

Looking down at the book, Parker gasped in delight. When Eliot looked at it, his brow wrinkled. The pictures on the page were moving. Not like those holographic bookmarks he always saw in tourist traps, but actually moving. He was watching a person flying on a broomstick towards a hoop of some sort before the picture reset itself and started again. What the hell was happening? Eliot wanted to call Hardison over and give the book to him, get him to figure out what was going on, but that would blow the whole ‘couple’ thing that he and Parker were going for. Involving Hardison was going to have to wait until they got away from the Grangers, until they were back in the hotel.

Looking back up at the children who were both staring at him with apprehension, Eliot took a deep breath. “Okay. Magic is real. I’m going to assume that whoever is in charge of keeping it secret made a law that says you can’t tell people who don’t have magic about it unless their kids have magic, then?” Hermione nodded, and Eliot picked up his tea cup, sipping the green tea he had ordered slowly. When he put the cup down, he continued. “Magic is real. Both of you have magic,” he gestured to Harry and Hermione, who both nodded again. “I’m assuming that whatever school you just got out of was for kids with magic then. Is there anything else about magic that we need to know before we take you in, Harry?”

Harry looked over at Hermione and leaned in to whisper something to her, anger, distress, and fear all over his face. Eliot had no clue what had happened at this school that the kids went to, but the boy obviously wanted to talk about something that he wasn’t sure he could share. It made Eliot angry that this kid was so scared by whatever the hell had happened that he wouldn’t just say it. In Eliot’s experience, the only time kids clammed up about things like that was when it was something terrible, something Eliot didn’t even want to think about. Whatever the hell had happened to this kid, Eliot could already tell that it wasn’t going to be good. When Harry looked back at him, with eyes more haunted than a kid’s eyes had any right to be, Eliot knew that he was right.

“It’s confusing and complicated,” Harry muttered, glancing at Eliot before looking back over at Hermione, like he expected her to be the one to explain. When she refused, Harry huffed. “I had no idea about magic or anything like this until my birthday last year, when I got my letter from the school. When Hagrid, the friend who gave me Hedwig, showed up and told me I was a wizard, that was the first time I’d ever been told that magic was real. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were very loud about how magic isn’t real, about how there’s no such thing as magic. Hagrid said both my parents were magic, before they died when I was a baby. He also told me that they had been killed by an evil Wizard who was after me. I don’t know all of the details because no one wants to explain anything to a confused 11-year-old, but I know that Headmaster Dumbledore thinks he’s coming back for me.”

Well. Eliot could honestly say that he hadn’t been expecting something like that. More about his uncle and aunt, maybe, but finding out that there was an evil wizard of some sort after the kid was just about the last thing he expected. He couldn’t help the moment of wondering if the team was going to be in over their heads before he shook it off. They’d been in over their heads before. They’d pulled off the impossible more than once in their lives. They could pull off the impossible again. Even if it somehow involved magic, of all things, he knew that they could figure out a way to keep this kid safe. Looking over at Parker, he knew that he had no other choice. Parker wasn’t about to let this kid go back to his uncle, or to go back to a place where he was in danger. Eliot could tell that much just by the way her jaw was locked up tight. He nudged her, breaking her out of whatever thoughts she was stuck in, and tilted his head towards Harry.

“Whatever’s happening, we can figure it out,” Parker promised, slipping into what Eliot called her ‘boss mode’ as she pushed a plate of finger sandwiches towards Harry. “Eliot and I, we know how to solve all sorts of problems. This is just a new challenge for us, but we can figure it out. We’re good at that sort of thing.”

At times like this, Eliot was well aware of why Nate had picked Parker to take over for him when he and Sophie left. Just those few sentences had Harry relaxing, had Hermione and her father smiling in the way that people who felt greatly relieved did. Eliot had no idea how she did it, but she managed to make people trust her, made people believe in her and in her promises. Five years ago, he would have considered it impossible, but Parker had managed. Parker had found a way to channel whatever it was that made people trust her, and she had gotten these people to trust her too.

“Well,” George said, glancing down at his watch. Eliot assumed that his wife was at home waiting for him to return with their daughter, that he was running on a time crunch. “If that’s going to be as simple as that, I would feel much more comfortable leaving Harry with you. That is,” he looked at his daughter, “so long as we can check on him. Harry is Hermione’s best friend. I wouldn’t want the two of them to lose contact with each other.”

“Of course,” Eliot agreed easily, pulling a blank card out of his pocket and writing his burn phone’s number on it. “Feel free to call any time. I wouldn’t want to alienate Harry from his friends. Friends are important at that age.”

George took the card and tucked it into his pocket, standing up and nudging Hermione to do the same. As his daughter was gathering her bag and trunk and hugging her friend goodbye, George looked over at Eliot and Parker again. “If you need anything at all, let us know. My wife and I may be as new to this as you are, but we’ll help in any way we can. No child deserves to be treated the way Harry has been, by his uncle or by their Headmaster. If there’s anything that we can do to help any of you, we will.”

Eliot nodded his thanks and watched George and Hermione Granger as they left the building, leaving Parker and Harry staring at each other across the table. As soon as the Grangers were out of the restaurant, Hardison was slipping into the chair next to Harry, a grin on his face.

“Magic is real? Man, I can’t believe this. Do you know where it comes from, kid? Do you know how it happens? Can people gain it somehow? Man, I’m so excited for this. I get to hack magic!” Hardison was practically bouncing in his seat as he turned to the kid, holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you kid. Name’s Alec Hardison. I guess since Eliot decided to take you in, I’m sort of one of your new guardians or whatever. We’re going to have a great time.” He looked back over at Eliot, his grin spreading. “Magic, man. This is officially cooler than any job Nate ever had us do.”

“We’re not through the woods yet, Hardison. We need to make convincing papers documenting us taking custody of him, make it as legal as we can. I’m not letting the kid go back to his uncle, not after what I saw.” Eliot was already thinking of all the things they were going to have to do, all the work that would be done so that the kid would be safe with them, as safe as they could make him. He knew Hardison wanted his moment, but Eliot wasn’t the kind of person to take a moment, not when there were other things to be worried about. He was already three steps ahead, planning their next move.

Next to him, Parker rested her hands on the table, meeting Eliot’s eyes before meeting Hardison’s, a small smile on her face.

“Let’s go steal a wizard.”


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

“You don’t work in Children’s Services, do you?”

Eliot had to admire the kid. Harry had managed to keep from asking that question until they were settled back in the living room of their hotel suite, Harry’s trunk and owl tucked away in one of the bedrooms. He was sitting on the couch, hands tucked under his thighs, as he took in the set up that Hardison had going on. Eliot had tried to convince Hardison that he didn’t need five different computers and other equipment that Eliot couldn’t even name, but the other man had insisted that if they were going to be in London for a while, he needed everything he had back at home. It was probably stranger than anything else Harry had ever seen. Of course, now that they were on a job, Eliot couldn’t help but be glad that Hardison had brought all that stuff. They would need it if they were going to have to hack magic, which Eliot still couldn’t believe they were going to do.

Sighing, Eliot placed a bottle of water in front of the kid and settled down into the armchair adjacent to the couch, shaking his head. “No, I don’t. Parker, Hardison and I are in a specialized field that has nothing to do with children most of the time. We’re the people who are called when something goes wrong, and the law can’t do anything to fix it. When companies steal something from people who earned it, or when rivals steal something, we’re the people they call to retrieve whatever it is.”

“So you’re thieves?” Harry’s brow furled as he asked it, looking up at Eliot. “Why did you help me then? Why would thieves be at Kings Cross in the first place? Were you there to steal something? Did I stop you from stealing something from someone? What are you going to do with me?” The kid looked scared but oddly determined, like he wasn’t about to let Eliot get away with a theft. It made Eliot want to laugh, or punch someone, depending on why this kid thought it was his job to stop a crime. “I won’t let you do that. It’s against the law. I’ll call Hermione.”

“Slow down, kid. Drink your water, okay? I’ll explain everything I can and then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do from here.” Parker and Hardison had decided to go get food, so Eliot couldn’t even rely on them to help explain things to the kid. Hardison had taken one look at him and declared it Eliot’s problem since Eliot was the one who had decided to step in and help the kid. “Yeah, we’re thieves, more or less. We don’t steal for ourselves though. Hell, we help people. People who got screwed over by the government or by corporations, we help them out. We do the wrong thing for the right reason, more or less. We weren’t at Kings Cross to do a job, technically. Parker likes to see if any museums have a security system she can’t break into. Today, she was casing the British Library. She wasn’t actually going to break in. It’s her idea of entertainment, I guess. Some people go ride roller coasters. Parker tries to outsmart security systems. As for what we’re going to do with you, that depends on you, kid. What do you want us to do with you? Do you want us to try and send you to your friend’s place? Do you want to stay with us? Do you want to try and get in contact with that Headmaster of yours and risk being sent back with your uncle? I’m not going to sit here and make your decisions for you. That’s not my style. If you want to stay with us, I promise we’ll take care of you, but we aren’t going to keep you if you don’t want us to.”

Harry had picked up the bottle of water and was holding it in his hands, tracing the condensation on the sides with his fingers as Eliot spoke. He looked like he was listening carefully to everything Eliot said, weighing the words with what he knew of the world. Eliot wouldn’t blame the kid if he went running as far as he could away from them, if he went back to whatever hidden magical society there was to tell them about the crazy people who had taken him from his uncle at the train station. If Eliot was this kid, he probably would have done something similar, especially when he was a kid. If someone had taken him from his dad when he was a kid, even if he’d wanted it, he would have flipped out on them.

“I want to stay,” Harry said quietly. “I’ve never had people who want to look out for me and take care of me before. I want to stay, to have that. But what are we going to do when the Headmaster finds out I’m not with my aunt and uncle? He said that their house was the safest place for me to be in the summer when I asked him if I could stay at the school. Won’t he find out that I’m not there and send me back? I don’t want to go back to their house. I never want to go back to their house again.”

“Kid, we’ll figure it out. That’s what we do. Magic is not the most difficult thing we’ve had to deal with, trust me. We had to get something out of one of the highest buildings in Dubai without being caught. Now that, that was a challenge. This, this is going to be a piece of cake compared to that, okay kid?”

Eliot could tell that Harry didn’t believe him. Hell, Eliot didn’t fully believe himself, but they would figure it out. Between him, Parker, and Hardison, they had pulled off some of the biggest heists in the world without getting caught. They could figure out this magic thing and keep this kid safe. It couldn’t be any harder than forging a diary from the mistress of King George, and Hardison had managed to do that with minimal struggling. Figuring out a secret society was child’s play to them. At least, he hoped it would be. They had done things that seemed more impossible before. Eliot was sure that when Hardison and Parker got back, they would already have an idea of how they were going to help this kid who apparently had an evil wizard after him, how they were going to keep the newest member of their family safe.

“So, what can you tell me about this guy who your Headmaster says is after you? Did he tell you anything else about him?” And wasn’t that suspicious, that the Headmaster hadn’t felt the need to keep the kid properly informed of the danger he was in. Eliot understood protecting the innocence of children, but if this guy had gone after Harry specifically, Harry deserved to know the truth about him. Giving the kid bare information did nothing but put him in even more danger. “Why did this guy go after you, if you were just a baby?”

Harry shrugged one shoulder, running his hand through his messy hair. It left the strands sticking up everywhere, like he had just electrocuted himself. “I don’t really know that much about him. Every time I’ve tried to ask an adult about why he tried to kill me and why he was after my family, they deflected. It’s like they don’t want me to know what it is he did. I looked in the library for some history books, but I couldn’t really find anything. Hermione told me that he was some sort of Dark Lord, sort of like Hitler, but magical, and that from what she read, he was trying to kill anyone who doesn’t have magic, which doesn’t make any sense, because there aren’t nearly enough magical people in the world to sustain the way of life that everyone is so used to. I don’t know why he was after me and my parents, but everyone says I killed him. How could I have killed him though? I wasn’t even two yet. I was 15 months old. How can a baby kill someone who was supposed to be the most powerful Dark Lord ever? It doesn’t make any sense. I asked Dumbledore, because Hermione said that he defeated the last Dark Lord back in the 40s, but he just said something about my mother’s love being a sacrifice that kept me safe. It didn’t make any sense to me.”

It didn’t make any sense to Eliot either. He was automatically suspicious of anyone who didn’t explain the reasons behind the things that they did, especially where it related to a child, and the fact that this Headmaster had brushed off Harry’s questions didn’t sit right with Eliot. The boy had a right to know what had happened to his family and why. He had a right to know why this madman had tried to kill him, especially if there was a belief, like Harry had stated at the station, that the guy would be back. Eliot wasn’t convinced that someone could come back from the dead, but he also hadn’t believed in magic earlier today, so who was he to say that there was no way it could be true?

“We’ll figure it out, kid. I don’t know how, but we’ll figure out what’s going on that they won’t tell you. I don’t believe in keeping things from kids, not when they have anything to do with keeping the kid safe. So I can promise you right now that you won’t have to worry about us keeping secrets from you.” Eliot wasn’t used to being around kids, but from the smile on Harry’s face, he figured that he had made the kid feel better about his situation, even if it was just a little better. Anything was better than nothing. “Come on kid and I’ll give you a tour of the hotel. We’ll be staying here until Parker decides if we’re going to be getting a townhouse or something, so you might as well know your way around.”

“A townhouse? You aren’t going to take me back to America with you? You’ll stay here so I can keep going to school with my friends, really?” Harry had the biggest grin on his face as he jumped up from the couch, hugging Eliot and taking him by surprise. “I was sure that you wouldn’t let me stay here with my friends, and I’ve never left England before, except to go up to school in Scotland, so I was terrified that I would have to get used to an entirely new place. I can keep going to Hogwarts though? Really?”

“Of course, we aren’t going to make you leave, kid. This is your home, where you grew up. We have no problem staying here. We can do what we do over here just as easily as we can over in the States. If you want to keep going to your school here, we aren’t going to make you leave just because we’re not from here. That wouldn’t be fair. So if you want to stay here and keep going to school with your friends, that’s what you’ll do. But we can’t live in a hotel forever. We’re going to have to find a place for us to live, with a real kitchen. What we have works, but I need more space. I did my time cooking on a hot plate. I don’t want to do it again.”

That got a grin out of the kid and Eliot ruffled his hair, standing up from his own chair. The hotel wasn’t the biggest, but it had a workout room and a pool, both things he figured Harry could enjoy, when they weren’t dragging him out to do things. Parker hadn’t said anything yet about spoiling the kid, but Eliot knew her, and he knew that Parker was going to make sure that Harry had everything his heart desired. She would probably try and teach him how to rob museums, unless Eliot and Hardison put a stop to any criminal activity that the kid decided to partake in, and Eliot could admit he wasn’t that good a person, no matter how hard Nate had tried to make him be. If the kid wanted to learn to do what they did, Eliot was more likely to help him that tell him no. He was old enough to make the decision for himself.

“By the time we get back from checking out the pool and stuff, Parker and Hardison should be back with our food. Come on.”

-

Parker and Hardison brought back more than food. When Eliot and Harry walked back into their suite, Hardison was pulling clothes out of a bag from Marks and Spencer, two more bags at his feet. Parker was laying out what looked like the entire menu from the Chinese restaurant down the street on the table, and Eliot could see even more bags of things tucked away behind her.

“Did you two rob a department store?” He tossed his key card on the counter and glanced down at Harry, who was staring at the bags of clothes like he’d never seen that many outfits in one place. Given the state of the clothes that he was currently wearing, he probably hadn’t. “Go on kid, check out what Hardison got you. He’s got pretty decent fashion sense when he wants to. You’ll probably look like a miniature millionaire when he’s done with you.”

Harry hurried over to Hardison, reverently reaching out and touching one of the shirts that was on the back of the couch. “Are these really all for me? I don’t have any money to pay you back for any of these. The clothes I have are good enough, really. You didn’t have to go out and get this. It probably cost a fortune.”

“Don’t worry about the money, little man. I have a few legitimate side hustles to get money from. These are all bought and paid for courtesy of my web design business. We were just eyeballing the size, so if anything doesn’t fit you, we can take it back to the store and get the right size. No kid should have to wear clothes that don’t fit him right. Come on, we’ll take these to your room and get them all sorted out while Parker finishes setting up dinner.”

Hardison and Harry grabbed the bags and went to Harry’s room, leaving Eliot alone with Parker. Now that the kid wasn’t in the room, Parker had that look in her eye that said she wanted to cry out of anger. Eliot sighed and moved to her side, removing the chopsticks from her hand and pulling her into an awkward hug that he would have done anything to avoid just a few years ago. Parker immediately turned into his shoulder, clutching on to his side and letting a few sobs loose. This was probably harder on Parker than any of them, seeing a kid being treated like that, reminding her of things that she had ruthlessly silenced for so long.

“Hey, we got him out of there.” Eliot rubbed her back carefully, not wanting to hit any of the bruises he knew were left from their last job. “We got him out of there and that kid has no idea what’s coming for him now that he’s got three incredibly talented criminals on his side. His world isn’t going to know what to do with him when we finish training him this summer. He’s going to be something else, Parker. He’s going to be just as badass as you are, just as smart as Hardison.”

“And just as angry as you?” She giggled it out, pulling away from him enough to look in his eyes. Eliot knew she meant it though, that she worried about the kid being angry and bitter as Eliot was. Eliot was worried about it too. The chances were high. “I just hate knowing that a kid was getting treated like that when he didn’t do anything wrong. He’s so tiny, Eliot. I don’t think they’ve ever fed him a full meal before. What if he has rickets or something? What if he has scurvy? Can kids still get scurvy or is that just a boat thing?”

“Slow down, Parker. I’m sure the kid doesn’t have scurvy. But if you want to check, we’ll take him to the doctor. I’m almost positive the kid has never gotten his vaccinations before, so we need to get him vaccinated, at the very least. The last thing I want is for the kid to get sick. We’ll get him seen by a doctor as soon as Hardison has all the paperwork figured out. The last thing that kid needs is for us to get arrested for supposedly kidnapping him from that uncle of his.”

Parker nodded, stepping out of the circle of his arms and pulling paper plates out of her bag. Idly, she started putting them on the table, trying to get them to look neat. She glanced back at Eliot, lips pursed. “We’re going to do something about the uncle, right? I know we can’t have him arrested for the child abuse, but we’re going to do something to ruin him and make him regret hurting Harry, right? I can’t just let that stand.”

“Of course, we’re going to do something about the uncle, Parker. I would never let that stand.” Eliot joined her in getting food out, dishing up some fried rice onto one of the plates. “Let’s get the kid settled in with us first before we worry about sending his uncle away. Let the man think he got off without any consequences. You know how I like to lure them into that false sense of safety.”

If Eliot’s smile was just this side of vicious, Parker didn’t say anything. Instead, she passed over the sesame chicken, brushing her shoulder against his. That was something Eliot loved about this team, the family group that they had formed after Nate and Sophie left. Yeah, Nate had turned them into a team, but these guys were Eliot’s family, and they were all vicious in their own way, especially when it came to protecting innocent people. Nate wouldn’t have let them get away with the things Eliot had planned for Harry’s uncle, but Parker was going to encourage him, because she understood where it was coming from, she understood why he had to do it. Parker and Eliot both knew what it was like to be a kid with a bad home life, and neither one of them was going to let Harry continue to suffer, or let Vernon get away with it.

“Hardison bought me toys,” Harry came bounding back into the room, holding up a transformer that was halfway into it’s truck form. He glanced back at Hardison, a grin on his face. “I’ve never had toys of my own before, just the broken ones Dudley didn’t want. They’re all so amazing.”

Hardison smiled back at the kid, ruffling his hair as he nudged him towards the table. “Every kid should have toys, especially transformers. They’re the best part of childhood. Come on, kid, let’s eat before Eliot takes all the Beijing beef.”

“I’m not taking all of it, Hardison,” Eliot placed the food that he’d dished up in front of Harry, handing the kid a fork. “Eat as much of this as you can, kid. I’m sure you haven’t had any of it before, so just try it. If you don’t like it, I can just make you a sandwich or something. There’s a reason we got rooms with a kitchen.”

Staring at the plate with wide eyes, Harry bit his lip. “I can make food. Aunt Petunia taught me how to cook when I was little. I’ve been making all the meals for the Dursleys since I could reach the stove. You don’t have to cook for me.”

There was another thing to add to the list of things that Eliot would be going after Harry’s family for, then. No kid should be that self-sufficient, not at 11 years old. “Kid, we’re your guardians now. Part of that means that it’s our job to take care of you. You don’t have to do things like cook and clean the entire place. That’s not your job. You’re a kid. You should be focused on school and playing, not cooking meals for everyone. Besides, I love to cook. You can help me, yeah, but I’m not going to make you do everything. I don’t even let Hardison in my kitchen. He fills my fridge with orange soda and hides gummy candy in all the drawers. It’s disgusting.”

“Hey, don’t diss the candy! It’s all part of my process. You think I could do the things I do without the proper fuel? No. I couldn’t. And what I do has saved your life more than once, so don’t go insulting the process.” Hardison turned to Harry, lowering his voice like he was telling the kid a secret. “The man goes and insults my food like I haven’t proven that it works. Where was his ‘gourmet cooking’ when he needed to get out of a building on lockdown, huh? Nowhere to be found. But my soda and gummies, they kept him out of jail. Now he sits here insulting them. Man should be grateful I have them.”

The comments served their purpose, easing the look of haunted guilt on Harry’s face as he dug his fork into his fried rice, closing his eyes at the taste. Eliot had never had much of an appreciation of fried rice until that moment, until he could see how much this kid was enjoying it. Nudging Parker to get her to look, he shared a smile with her and a promise. They would make sure that this kid had everything he could ever want, from now on. This kid was never going to know another day of suffering if Eliot and Parker, hell even Hardison, had anything to say about it. They were going to give this kid everything he could ever want or need.

-

 

“Eliot, come look at this,” Hardison was bent over his laptop, hours after they had sent Harry to bed, trying to finalize the paperwork that would make Harry, for all intents and purposes, legally theirs. “I was finishing this paperwork, but look. He’s not in any system except his school records from St. Gregory’s Primary School. There are no doctor records of him, no immunizations. Not even an investigation from Children’s Services into his home life. Until he was six, Harry Potter didn’t even exist.”

Leaning over Hardison’s shoulder to look at what he had found, Eliot pointed to a link on the page. “Is that a note from a teacher? What does it say?”

“Yeah,” Hardison clicked the link so that they could both read what the teacher had written. “One of Harry’s teachers suspected that there was abuse going on in the home, so he said something to the headmistress. She told him that his concern was unfounded and to mind his own business. I have no proof, but I think that Vernon paid her off, or did something to make her think that whatever was going on at home was Harry’s fault. That teacher was let go at the end of the year.”

Of course he was. Eliot wanted to be angry, to be surprised, but nothing surprised him about the lengths that abusers went to in order to not get caught. He knew better than anyone exactly how far they would go to keep their secrets, to keep their lives safe from the reprecussions of their actions. They would have a hard time pinning Vernon Dursley for the abuse of his nephew, but Eliot was not about to let it go. He would make sure the man paid in any way that he could for what he had done.

“Forge the papers you can. We’ll take him to the doctor’s and let the guy know that Harry’s been in an abusive situation for most of his life, a cult or something. We just need to get the paperwork in order in case anyone asks us any questions. Did you get anything else out of him about magic while you were in his room earlier?”

Hardison hated a mystery, especially one he thought that he should know about, so Eliot was sure he’d managed to get something out of the man. But here Hardison was, shaking his head in apparent disbelief. “Man, I swear the kid was just thrown into it without training wheels, from the way he talks about it. Everyone just sort of assumed that he knew everything that other kids who grew up around magic knew and no one actually took the time to explain it to him. He did say something about there being a difference between ‘Purebloods’ and ‘Muggleborns’ though. As far as I can figure out, Muggle is what they call people who don’t have magic like us, but Harry couldn’t tell me why there was such a difference between them. I don’t know, Eliot. It’s all just weird to me. Where the hell does the magic even come from?”

Eliot shrugged, settling down onto the couch and switching on the TV so he could zone for a while. “Maybe we’ll find out when we take the kid to the doctor. If it’s something in his blood, maybe the doctor will be able to tell us, and we can figure out what the hell we do next.”

“Man, I hope so.” Hardison shook his head, looking over at Eliot. “It’s going to take a miracle for me to figure out how in the hell I’m supposed to hack magic.”

Shrugging, Eliot grinned. “You’ve done harder things.”

Hardison grinned back, returning to his computer. “Yeah, but one of these days you’re going to ask me to do something that I’m not going to be able to do, and then what will you guys do? You’re going to find something I can’t hack.”

“Oh don’t worry about that. We already have your replacement picked out. If you can’t hack something, we’ve got a guy who can. He’ll do it instead.” Glancing over at Hardison, Eliot threw a straw at him, drawing his attention. “Stop sulking. You can do it. I know it. You’re just discovering something new. Give yourself some time, man. You’ll have this magic stuff figured out in no time.”

“I hope you’re right, man.” Hardison focused on the computer again, and Eliot knew that he’d lost him. “For Harry’s sake, I hope you’re right.”

Eliot couldn’t help but silently agree. He hoped he was right too.


	3. Chapter 3

 

“Harry Potter,” the nurse looked up from her clipboard, searching the waiting room for the patient. Just as she was about to call out for him again, Eliot and Harry appeared in front of her, Eliot’s hand on Harry’s shoulder to help the boy calm down. “Ah, there you are, Mr. Potter. Come along with me and we’ll get you back into a room to wait for Dr. Finch-Fletchley.”

Harry had been looking at his feet, but when he heard the doctor’s name, his head shot up and bright green eyes stared at the nurse. “Finch-Fletchley? I go to school with someone with that last name. He’s in my Herb- botany class. Justin, I think?” His nose wrinkled as he tried to remember the name. “Is Dr. Finch-Fletchley related to him?”

The nurse hummed and nodded, a smile on her face. “Justin is Dr. Finch-Fletchley’s son. I remember her talking about how he was off to boarding school last year. She was so proud of him for the achievements that he’s made. You had botany together, then? How did you like it?” Pushing open the door to one of the patient rooms, she gestured for Harry and Eliot to enter before her. “Dr. Finch-Fletchley said that Justin wrote her about how strange his classes were compared to what he was used to. Did you find that too?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess.” Harry stood awkwardly in the room, not sure what to do with himself. Eliot took a seat in one of the chairs and motioned Harry to do the same. It was obvious that the boy had never been in a doctor’s office before. “It was a culture shock, you could say. I learned lots of new things, though.”

The nurse made a vague sound of interest before sitting down at the computer and looking towards Eliot. “What is it that brings young Harry in here today?”

Eliot placed his hand on Harry’s shoulder to keep the boy calm as he took a deep breath and started speaking. They had practiced this at the hotel, but Eliot wasn’t sure how comfortable Harry would be having another person hear what Eliot had to say. “Harry came from a bad situation. I just recently gained custody of him. I’m almost positive that he’s never received any vaccines, so he’s going to need a blood test run. I would also like it if he could have some x-rays done, just to make sure that he isn’t suffering from any improperly healed bones. Now that I have him safely away from that situation, I want to make sure he’s as healthy as he can be.”

The nurse was typing all of this into the computer, nodding as Eliot spoke. She didn’t have a look of pity on her face, but it was schooled into careful indifference. Eliot had to hand it to her, it was almost a convincing face. He might have fallen for it completely if it weren’t for the way her eyes kept twitching up to look at Harry, like she was trying to see all the damage that had been done to him with her naked eyes. When she was finished typing everything up, she gave Harry a gentle smile and stood up. “I’ll just go get the doctor for you. She’ll be in in just a minute, dearie.”

When the nurse was out of the room, Harry turned to Eliot, leaning against him just slightly. It was something that the boy had started doing a few days ago, leaning against Eliot or Hardison when he needed comfort but wasn’t sure how to ask for it. He was more careful around Parker, but she was the one who gathered him into hugs whenever she was near him, ruffling his hair with affection. Now that he was sure he wouldn’t be hit if he reached out for affection, Harry seemed to look for it constantly, even if it was just someone messing with his hair. The entire team was doing their best to make sure that he felt like he could come to them whenever he wanted to, always stopping what they were doing so that they could pay attention to Harry. It had only been a week, but the kid seemed to be healing. One of the benefits of kids, Eliot supposed, was that they were resilient. The kid could get back from this, he knew he could.

“Are all appointments at the surgeon’s like this? I’ve never been to the surgeon’s before. I’ve been to the infirmary, at Hogwarts, and once at primary school because my teacher thought I needed glasses, but the Dursleys never took me to get check ups like they did with Dudley.” Harry had been getting better at talking about what had happened to him without being asked, as long as whoever he was talking to stayed silent and let him talk. “What is she going to do to me?”

“She’s going to draw blood, kid. She has to see what diseases you’re immune to and what you need to get the shots for. She’s also going to make you strip so she can give you a physical, check your development, see what you’ve been through. I’m hoping she’ll give you some x-rays, so we can make sure your bones are all developing the way they’re supposed to. Other than that, I don’t know what she’s going to do. I haven’t been to a doctor in a few years. It’s kind of hard to explain why I have all the scars I have without scaring them off.”

Grabbing onto Eliot’s arm, Harry tugged until Eliot was looking at him. The kid looked terrified, but like he was trying to put on a brave front, like he wanted to make Eliot proud of him for not freaking out. What had been done to this kid to make him think that it wasn’t okay for him to be scared? What had people been telling him to make him feel like he had to put on this front? Whatever it was, it left Eliot with fists clutched, aching to be sinking into someone’s jaw, to pay them back for terrifying this kid. Eliot hated people who abused kids, but the people who told them that they had to suck it up and be brave were just as bad. Just from the basics that Harry had told him, the adults at his school had been telling him that crock of lies since Hagrid had picked him up from where Vernon had attempted to hide him away. Harry had been completely convinced that he had to be brave because both of his parents had been brave, according to Hagrid and his Head of House. Any adult who would willingly attempt to brainwash a child into believing that was worthy of a beating in Eliot’s opinion. There was no reason Harry should be risking his life and falling into the stupid things that he had described to Eliot, not when there were adults who should be perfectly capable of handling the situation.

“Hey, kid, it’s okay to be scared, okay? I’m right here, though, and I’m not going anywhere. You don’t have to go through this alone, okay, kid?” Reaching over with his free hand, Eliot awkwardly ruffled the kid’s hair, making it even messier than it already was. It was endearing to see how messy the kid’s hair could get. Eliot really hoped that the kid didn’t decide to cut it. It looked good like this. “If she gives you an x-ray, I won’t be able to be in the same room, but I promise that I’ll be right outside, waiting for you. I’m not going to make you tough this out.”

“Thank you,” Harry rasped, leaning his forehead against Eliot’s bicep. The kid was practically shaking in fear and Eliot’s heart clenched at the sight. “I know it’s silly to be afraid of the doctor because kids go to the doctor all the time. I just don’t know what to expect. New things don’t always work out great for me.”

Before Eliot could say anything else, there was a knock at the door and a blonde woman opening it. “Mr. Potter? I’m Dr. Finch-Fletchley. Is it okay if I come in and give you a check-up?”

Harry nodded, and the doctor moved further into the room, closing the door behind her and giving Harry a small smile. She seemed to know exactly how to move to make the kid relax, because Harry’s grip on Eliot’s arm eased and the boy sat up, scooting forward on his chair as the doctor took her place on the stool behind the computer.

“Let’s see what we’re looking at today,” She pulled up the notes that the nurse had made, reading through them. Eliot could see the way her face pinched as she read them, but she made sure to keep it hidden from Harry. “Susan told me that you go to school with Justin, Harry. Do you have any classes with him? I love him dearly, but Justin would rather tell me about Quidditch then any of his schoolwork. I would love to know what he’s learning. Can you hop up onto the table so I can check you out while we talk?”

Harry moved to the table after a nod from Eliot, clutching at the thin paper that was laid on it. “Justin is in my Herbology class. It’s mostly learning about how to take care of magical plants. I don’t like the Mandrakes. They shriek louder than Aunt Petunia when I burn the bacon.” He blushed, looking down at the way his knees poked out from the shorts that Hardison had bought him. “Professor Sprout is a good teacher though. She’s Justin’s Head of House, I think.”

Doctor Finch-Fletchley nodded, leaving her stool and taking her stethoscope off of her neck. “I’m going to listen to your heart, okay, Harry? You can leave your shirt right where it is. All I need you to do is give me a few deep breaths so that I can make sure your lungs work right. Tell me about your favorite class so far.”

“Well, I think I would like Defense Against the Dark Arts, but our teacher wasn’t exactly very good. I like Transfiguration. My Head of House, Professor McGonagall is the teacher for that one. She can turn into a cat. I don’t know if Justin told you about that. My friend Hermione said it’s called the Animagus transformation and only really powerful witches and wizards can do it. I want to learn someday though. It would be cool to be an animal sometimes.”

Eliot could tell that Harry was uncomfortable as Doctor Finch-Fletchley performed the physical examination, but the boy held still, not even squirming when she had to check his ears. She kept up the questions as she moved around him, keeping his mind on school and the magical world rather than on the examination that she was doing. Eliot couldn’t help but be relieved that she had such a good bedside manner. This was the most relaxed that he’d seen Harry outside of their hotel since they’d taken him home with them. The doctor didn’t share any of her findings with them until she was back on her stool, breathing heavily as she made eye contact with Eliot.

“Quite frankly, I’m amazed that Harry has made it this long without some serious medical issues being brought to light. He’s had years of near starvation, several bones broken that I’m positive haven’t been set properly, and the strain his eyes are under due to an improper prescription is astounding. I’m going to have a nurse come in to draw blood so that we can test his immunity, then we’ll take him in for some x-rays. I will warn you now, we’re most likely going to have to rebreak the bones that didn’t heal correctly. If there’s any way you could get him in contact with the hospital in,” she made a significant nod towards Harry, “his world, I’m almost positive they’ll have something to help speed along that process.”

“About his world,” Eliot licked his lips, not entirely sure how the question he had would come across. “Have you noticed anything different in the blood of people that have magic and the people who don’t? Harry said something about how the Purebloods say that the magic is genetic. I was wondering if you had done any tests, since you found out that your own son was magic.”

“Actually,” the doctor moved around the desk, leaning back against it. “I did some blood work on Justin when he got his visit from Professor Flitwick. I compared it to other panels that I’ve run in the past, on other patients, and I did find something. When I reached out to several of my colleagues, they were able to corroborate what I had found. Justin has a protein and steroid pair in his blood that none of my non-magical patients have. I suspect that Harry will have it as well. All of the other patients I found who had this pair, when I asked their parents, were found to be magical as well.”

“A protein and steroid pair?” Eliot knew the basics of medicine, after so many jobs pretending to be a doctor, but he had no idea what Finch-Fletchley was talking about. “What does that mean?”

“You’ve heard of hypothyroidism?” Eliot nodded. “Hypothyroidism happens when the body doesn’t create enough of certain hormones. The pills that we use to treat hypothyroidism synthesize those hormones. Similarly, when we find that a person’s body isn’t making enough of a certain protein or steroid, there are often medications that we can give them to synthesize whatever they’re missing. In the case of Justin, and anyone with ‘magic’, I suspect, they have a steroid that no one else has. Medical schools like to joke about the protein that’s missing its match. I had a professor who told our class that if any of us were abnormal and had the whole pair, he’d automatically pass us. None of our class did. Yet Justin does. Five of my other patients, all wizards and witches according to their parents, have it. I believe that this steroid, whatever it is, when bonded with the protein, is what allows for people to access whatever it is inside them that makes magic possible.” She took a breath, shrugging one shoulder. “It’s all theory, because I haven’t had any luck getting ahold of anyone in the magical world to confirm what I found, but that’s what I think. Whatever it is, that steroid is what unlocks the magic inside these kids.”

Eliot was already trying to figure out how Hardison would use this information. If it was in the blood, it was something that Hardison could hack. He had been pouting for the past three days, complaining about the fact that hacking magic was going to be impossible. If it was a steroid like Finch-Fletchley had found, that meant it could be synthesized. They would have to break into a pharmaceutical lab and stay there long enough for Hardison to get it made, but it could be done. All of a sudden, figuring out a way to infiltrate Harry’s world so that they could protect him seemed much easier.

Doctor Finch-Fletchley had slipped out of the room while Eliot was thinking, leaving him alone with Harry. The boy was still on the table, tearing shreds out of the paper on the table that he was sitting on. “Did you figure something out? You got really quiet when she started talking about blood. Was all of that something you understood then?”

“Understood? No, kid. I didn’t understand much of it, but Hardison will.” He grinned, pulling out his phone and sending Hardison a text. “Your doctor may not have realized it, but she just gave us exactly what we need for Hardison to be able to hack magic. We’re going to be able to help you survive the Wizarding World, kid. Hardison’s going to be able to get us an in into the secret society that seems so hellbent on you dying.”

-

“This is great,” Hardison was bent over the printout of Harry’s blood scan, eagerly taking notes on everything that he could see. “With this, I can figure out how to synthesize this steroid. If I do it right, we might be able to pretend that we’re magic too, hell, we might actually become magic. Think of all the money we could make if we sold this stuff, man. We would never have to work a job again.”

“We aren’t going to sell it, Hardison,” Eliot reached out and cuffed the back of Hardison’s head before he grabbed an onion from the tote bag on the table. “If you’re able to make it, we’re going to use it so that we can make sure Harry is safe. I’m not sending the kid back to that school unless we have a way to get him out of there if something bad happens to him. You didn’t see the doc’s face when she was looking at his x-rays and blood results. What that kid went through,” he shook his head, focusing on his dicing before he could clench his fists in anger. “I’m never letting that kid get hurt again, not when we can help him. So you figure out what you need to make that thing so that we can help him out.”

“Oh I already know what I need,” Hardison set the papers aside, grabbing his laptop. “The only question is whether or not we want a monthly shot or a daily pill. Personally, I prefer the pill because I don’t like needles, but the shot does last longer, as long as we make sure that we take it on time every month. Then all we have to do is break into a pharmaceutical lab so that I can play with some very expensive, very beautiful machines for a while. After that, we take our pills or get our shots, and voila! We’re wizards. Now, I already have a lab in mind. They just debuted a new AI that they’re using to help them map DNA and synthesize proteins. It’s a thing of beauty, man. Anyhow, we break into the lab, I hack into EVA, their beautiful AI, and presto, we’re cooking. Speaking of cooking, what are you making?”

“Harry asked me to make something that I grew up eating because he hasn’t had a chance to eat things from other parts of the world, so I’m making some chili. What lab are we looking at breaking into and what’s their security like?” Eliot dumped the onions into the pot that he had on their hot plate, stirring it quickly to mix them in with the butter. “One of us has to stay back here to keep an eye on the kid. I don’t want him involved with the breaking and entering. He’s too young to get involved in shit like that. Is this something that you and Parker can do alone, or do you need me to go in with you?”

“Parker and I can do it alone, man. I don’t want the kid anywhere near this building. There’s only one problem.” Hardison looked up at Eliot, a gleam of a challenge in his eyes. “The security’s a Steranko.”

Eliot didn’t curse, but it was a close thing. Instead, he turned to face Hardison, his knife still in his hand. “It’s a Steranko.” His voice was flat, one eyebrow raised. “We barely got out the last time we tried to defeat a Steranko. We barely got out the first time we tried to defeat a Steranko. How in the hell are we going to get past one again?”

“We infiltrate the company. I end up in a lab where I can make this steroid, Parker does something to set the Steranko off, and when we’re evacuated, I slip out with the steroid. Then we’re good to go. Come on, man, it’s easier to do it that way than it is to actually try and break in without setting the alarms off. We know how to use the Steranko to our advantage. We can do this, Eliot.”

“You set off the biohazard alarm again,” Eliot stirred his pot on the hot plate before looking at Hardison again. “You set off the biohazard alarm and Parker and I come in as part of the hazmat team. We take the steroid out ourselves. You might have to be subject to an unpleasant and invasive shower, but it’ll be easier for Parker and I to steal the steroid than it will be for you to sneak it out when the alarm has gone off.”

“What do you do with the kid, then? He’s only eleven, Eliot. We can’t leave him locked in the hotel room while we break into a lab and risk going to jail. Can you imagine what that would do to him?” Hardison looked like he wanted to punch Eliot, just from thinking about leaving Harry alone without one of them with him. “We can’t leave him alone.”

That was true. They couldn’t leave Harry at the hotel alone. Even though Eliot trusted the kid not to make too many stupid and dangerous decisions, it wouldn’t be fair to the kid to leave him alone. That wasn’t even mentioning the fact that Eliot couldn’t keep him safe if he wasn’t at the hotel with him. He hated knowing that there were going to be places where he couldn’t keep Harry safe. He wasn’t going to start leaving Harry in danger now, not before he’d had an opportunity to help the kid learn how to defend himself.

“You’re right. I’ll stay here with the kid. Parker will infiltrate the hazmat crew. We just need to get this done. I hate knowing that there are dangers that this kid faces that I physically can’t protect him from. I’m not used to that feeling, man. I’ve never been in a situation like this, Hardison. There’s always been a way to punch the asshole causing me problems. Here, there isn’t any way because they have an ability that I don’t have. It’s stifling, man.”

Eliot was so glad that Harry and Parker had gone for a walk through one of the parks near the hotel while he and Hardison reviewed the kid’s medical files. He didn’t want Harry to feel guilty because Eliot was having issues with his anger. It wasn’t Harry’s fault that there were people that Eliot had no idea how to protect him from. He was just going to have to accept that he couldn’t do anything until Hardison managed to figure out how to give them the same control over this magic that wizards had. If Hardison wasn’t able to hack it… Eliot refused to even entertain that thought. Hardison could hack anything. At this point, all they had to do was wait.

-

“Why did Hardison need my blood, though?” Harry and Eliot were wandering through Madame Tussaud’s, partially to cement an alibi while Parker and Hardison pulled off their con and partially because Harry had never been before. The kid loved all the wax figures, especially the ones of the royal family. “I thought he was going to have to build this steroid from the ground up. That’s what he made it sound like.”

“He is, kid, but he can’t do that without the instructions. Your blood is the instructions. Now stop talking about it. If anyone overhears us talking about this, we become suspects.” Eliot wasn’t the biggest fan of the kid knowing the entire plan, but he had promised not to keep secrets from Harry, not even for his own protection. The kid had been lied to for too long. Eliot wouldn’t do that to him. “Come on, I want to look at the movie figures again. There were too many people around E.T. when we went through the first time. After that, we’ll go get some fish and chips.”

Harry shook his head, but followed along, staring at all the other people in the museum. Eliot was almost positive that Harry hadn’t been around this many people other than at Hogwarts in his life. He had a habit of clinging to Eliot’s shirt, or his hand. Eliot couldn’t even fault the kid for it. He knew how terrifying it could be to be surrounded by people when you weren’t used to being near anyone. If he could make the kid feel more comfortable, he would do whatever it took. Harry was his to protect now, no matter what. The kid was doing great, Eliot had to say. The clinging was the only sign that he was nervous being in crowds, the only sign that he wasn’t comfortable. Considering that they had only had him for three weeks, Eliot couldn’t help but be impressed. This kid was a miracle, as far as Eliot was concerned, one of the greatest things to ever happen to their team, but especially to Eliot.

“Why do you eat fish and chips so much? This is the third time in two weeks that you’ve had fish and chips. Why do you eat that when everything you cook is super healthy?” Harry wrinkled his nose as he thought of the foods that Eliot had introduced him to. Most of them were good, except when Eliot had made chili after his doctor’s appointment. That had been to spicy for his tastes. “Are you secretly a junk food eater? Do you have a horde of gummy worms that you hide from Hardison so that he won’t steal them? Are you the one who ate all of Parker’s Skittles? She yelled at Hardison for that and made him buy her more.”

“Fish and chips is a classic! Eating it does not make me a secret junk food lover. Besides, I don’t need to hide food from Hardison or steal from Parker. Everyone knows that you have the best chocolate horde in the suite. Who do you think’s been eating all those chocolate frogs?” Eliot grinned down at Harry, ruffling his hair. “Those things are magical, little man. I couldn’t help but eat one. Or seven.”

“I knew you were stealing candy from somewhere!” Harry pushed his shoulder against Eliot’s side, objecting to the theft. Two weeks ago, Harry wouldn’t have even thought of touching Eliot without express permission. This was great progress, and Eliot’s grin grew. “Do you know how hard it’s been to get those? Especially since I’m not getting any mail from Ron or Hermione. I had to search everywhere in my trunk to find the ones I hid in there at the beginning of the year. What if Hardison’s plan doesn’t work and he and Parker don’t get out safely? I won’t be able to buy any chocolate frogs until I’m on the train back to Hogwarts. I refuse to go another month and a half without chocolate frogs.”

Laughing, Eliot led Harry into another wing of the museum. “Don’t worry kid. In the five years that I’ve worked with them, Hardison and Parker have never failed a mission. That isn’t going to change now. By this time tomorrow, you’ll be teaching us all how to light things on fire with our minds. It’ll be great.”

“I don’t actually think I can light things on fire with my mind,” the boy accepted the change of subject casually, “But I want to learn. I also want to learn how to change into an animal. My Transfiguration teacher does it and it’s amazing. I want to be able to do that.”

“You will, kid,” Eliot promised. “You will.”

-

Across London, Parker and Hardison were walking out of a tall building, going separate directions. Parker joined the other Hazmat team members, a briefcase in hand. The vials in the briefcase were harmless, Hardison had walked away with the real vials, but it looked good to have something. With luck, their crime wouldn’t even be discovered until after they were long gone, when there was no chance of the crime being traced back to them.

Hardison kept walking, stopping by a tea shop for a cup and a cake, before heading back to the hotel. He had kept this routine for the past week, establishing a reputation as a flirt with the girls who worked at the tea shop. They knew when he would be by, and missing it would do no good, even if all he wanted to do was go back to the hotel and see if his steroid actually worked.

The thought of having magic, of being able to do the amazing things that Harry did, had him smiling into his tea. If this worked, the crimes they would be able to commit would be never ending. Of course, they would have to wait until after they had the kid safe. Harry came first, no matter what. 

It was amazing, how much the kid had come to mean to all of them in the three weeks since he’d moved in. Hardison couldn’t imagine not having Harry around, not protecting him. Their entire world revolved around that kid now, and keeping him safe was the single most important job they had ever undertaken. If this didn’t work, Hardison would just have to find another way to keep Harry safe. Harry was all that mattered. Magic was just a bonus.


End file.
